The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Emzor Pharmaceutical Group, Mrs. Stella Okoli, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to adopt a multi-pronged approach in tackling the economic recession ravaging the country.
These will include consulting widely across various sectors, strategising and spending to reflate the economy.
Speaking with The Nation,at the weekend in Lagos, she said if a business entity was allowed to run out of cash, it would die, arguing that when an economy does not have money, people suffer. Therefore, she said, the government must spend to reflate the economy.
Shelauded the anti-graft war of Buhari and advised that the recovered funds be channeled to the productive sector, infrastructure, and research and development because these are areas that can reinvigorate the economy.
Okoli, also the Vice president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said though the challenges confronting the sector were daunting, the youth should be involved in manufacturing. She noted that on the flip side, all levels of government, including corporate organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have crucial roles to play in supporting and encouraging youths who may have passion for manufacturing.
“We have many talented young people in Nigeria. Look at the Aba made shoes young Nigerians are producing; they are of good quality. We can encourage this kind of entrepreneurship. If our youth have access to regular power supply and loan, they will achieve a lot because they are gifted. Training should also be provided for them on how to improve the quality and packaging of their products. The various regulatory agencies should work with them to ensure their products are of excellent quality,” she said.
The MAN chief said the government should create industrial parks across the country to serve as a base for talented youths to draw assistance to set up cottage industries.
She recalled that the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo made a pledge to let out a wing of the now abandoned Federal Secretariat Complex in Ikoyi for use as an ICT Park. Sadly, she said, several years after, that property is still lying fallow, wasting away.
“My advice to our youth is that they should not be discouraged to the extent of burying their passion for entrepreneurship on account of recession. They should forge ahead and they will succeed and help lift the country out of recession,” she said.